Wrestling: Woodland's Ashlyn Daugherty wins state

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The Mat Classic high school state wrestling championship is held in the Tacoma Dome, and that makes it a special event for the athletes. “Dome fever” can hit first-time competitors as they walk into this professional venue and see 24 full-size wrestling mats covering the stadium floor. The Dome has a gladiator Colosseum feel to it, which is fitting for the wrestlers doing battle.

This year the Mat Classic was bigger than ever.

Snowstorms covered much of Washington the week before the state championship when regional qualifying contests were to be held. Regionals were canceled. This meant that rather than the usual 16 slot brackets, this year there were 32 slot brackets. More athletes, more matches, and more challenges awaited wrestlers.

One North County wrestler who was up to the challenge was Ashlyn Daugherty. The 105-pound Woodland senior had been to the Dome before, but she missed her chance at gold by one point in the semi-finals round. This year would be different. This year she would make it to finals. This year she would be a champion.

In her first match, Daugherty’s opponent was injured and could not continue. Next, she pinned two opponents and then won a lopsided 8-2 decision. In her finals match, Daugherty faced Othello junior Emily Mendez who had pinned her first three opponents and won a sudden victory in overtime in the semi-finals.

In the finals, Daugherty was the aggressor the entire match. Within the first 30 seconds, she had hold of Mendez’s leg but took a while to convert it to a takedown. Mendez would not go easily, as she hopped on one foot and fought to regain position.

“I always have that trouble in practice with the guys I wrestle because they are really strong,” Daugherty said.

Daugherty coach, Theron Chicks, had confidence in her though.

“She was the calmest I have ever seen her,” he said. “She is usually really nervous, but today she was calm.”

Daugherty finished the single leg takedown and took the early lead. Mendez battled back to within one point in the third round with the score 4-3 Daugherty. With only three seconds remaining Daugherty took Mendez down and put her on her back as time ran out. The 6-3 final score was not reflective of the bout as Daugherty was in control the entire time.

“Last year her goal was to get third and what happened? She got third,” Coach Chicks said after the victory. “This year her goal was to win.”

“Anyone can get there; it’s who wants it the most,” Daugherty said of her preparation leading to the championship.“It feels amazing. I feel like I’m in a dream.”

Two other Woodland wrestlers medaled in the tournament. Sophomore Judeah Sanders placed 7th at 113 pounds, winning four of his six matches. Senior Andrew Pottratz placed 6th at 285 pounds.

 Ridgefield

Ridgefield put two wrestlers on the 2A state championship podium. Dylan Draper took home a medal at 132 pounds. The senior’s first day was spotless, with two pins in two matches. Day two proved more challenging, as Draper had two victories and two losses to finish 6th.

Ridgefield teammate Bracen Nash took home a third-place medal at 106 pounds. The freshman started the tournament strong with an 8-1 victory in his first match before running into Joel Godinez of Toppenish.



“It [was really disappointing] to lose right off the bat, but after that I wrestled smart. I wrestled tough, and it paid off,” Nash said of his performance.

After that early loss, watching Nash’s march to the third-place match was like watching a high school wrestler going against middle schoolers. And it wasn’t because his opponents were unskilled. Nash was just on a tear. He pinned five of his next six opponents, and the one that didn’t get pinned was shut out 10-0.

Nash’s last bout of the tournament was not as lopsided, but he secured a 6-2 win against Orting sophomore Demani Thomas.

“He’s a great wrestler,” Nash said of Thomas. “With wrestling him before, that helped. I kind of knew what his strengths were, so I wrestled more defensively.”

Apparently “defensively” to Nash means going right after his opponent because that is exactly what he did. On the whistle, Nash attacked and shot in, but Thomas reversed the situation and got the takedown. Next Thomas executed a great belly-to-back throw, landing Nash on his neck. Such a throw is legal in freestyle and Greco wrestling, but illegal in high school folkstyle wrestling. Nash, a freestyle and Greco wrestler himself, was unfazed. A one point penalty was awarded to Nash.

In round two Thomas was in control on top for most of the round, but Nash was active and eventually scored a reversal to go up 3-2. Round three was much different, with Nash back on the attack. But as in round one, Thomas nearly reversed Nash before the two went out of bounds. At the reset, Thomas went in with a deep shot, but again he illegally slammed Nash to the ground. This time Nash took an injury time out. Had Nash been unable to continue he would have won the match because the injury was caused by an illegal move, but he continued with another penalty point under his belt — that wasn’t the way Nash wanted to win.

After recovering from the injury Nash returned to the mat a changed wrestler. The two clashed as Nash stuffed Thomas’ shot. Thomas shot again, and Nash combined a whizzer with a leg toss and the two fell out of bounds. Nash stuffed another shot and scored a takedown, eventually riding Thomas out for the round and the win.

“Overall I have a few regrets, but it was a good freshman season and I’m excited for the years to come,” Nash said afterward.

La Center

La Center put three wrestlers on the 1A podium. Robel Grove, a senior, took 4th place at 126 pounds. Junior Hunter Mallicoat placed 8th at 132 pounds. Fellow junior Max Muffett took 8th at 220 pounds.

Prairie

Prairie gathered three medals in 3A. Sophomore Jason Wilcox took 5th at 132 pounds. Brayden Sofianos, a senior, took 2nd at 145 pounds. Sofianos’ first three matches were one-sided, with two pins and a technical fall (won by 15 points or more). In his finals match, Sofianos ran into Dominic Damon. Though Sofianos was repeatedly able to shoot in on Damon’s leg, Damon fended off each attack. Fellow senior Nick Langer took 3rd at 182 pounds. Langer’s only loss was to Mason Miethe of St. Spokane who pinned all five of his opponents to take 1st place in the bracket.

Hockinson

Hockinson senior Aiden Mallory took 7th place at 170 pounds in 2A.

Battle Ground

Battleground wrestlers did not place in the tournament.